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Quotations by Blaise Pascal

Men never do evil so completely - Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

All of humanity's problems - All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

People arrive at their beliefs - People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

Sensitivity to the little things - Man's sensitivity to the little things and insensitivity to the greatest are the signs of a strange disorder.

Kind words - Kind words produce their own image in men's souls, and a beautiful image it is. They soothe and quiet and comfort the hearer. They shame him out of his sour, morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to use kind words in such abundance as they ought to be used.

People persuasion - People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.

Some speak well and write badly - There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.

Time heals griefs and quarrels - Time heals griefs and quarrels, for we change and are no longer the same persons. Neither the offender nor the offended are any more themselves. It is like a nation which we have provoked, but meet again after two generations. They are still Frenchmen, but not the same.

The last thing discovered in writing a book - The last thing that we discover in writing a book is to know what to put at the beginning.

No mind is independent of circumstance - The mind of the greatest man on earth is not so independent of circumstances as not to feel inconvenienced by the merest buzzing noise about him; it does not need the report of a cannon to disturb his thoughts. The creaking of a vane or a pulley is quite enough. Do not wonder that he reasons ill just now; a fly is buzzing by his ear; it is quite enough to unfit him for giving good counsel.

The present is never the mark of our designs - The present is never the mark of our designs. We use both past and present as our means and instruments, but the future only as our object and aim.

Virtue ought to be measure by conduct - The virtue of a man ought to be measured not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his every-day conduct.

Vanity in conversation - There is no arena is which vanity displays itself under such a variety of forms as in conversation.

Nothing so insupportable to man - There is nothing so insupportable to man as to be in entire repose, without passion, occupation, amusement, or application. Then it is that he feels his own nothingness, isolation, insignificance, dependent nature, powerlessness, emptiness. Immediately there issue from his soul ennui, sadness, chagrin, vexation, despair.

We wish to be known to all the world - We are so presumptuous that we wish to be known to all the world, even to those who come after us; and we are so vain that the esteem of five or six persons immediately around us is enough to amuse and satisfy us.

We learn more from the sight of evil - We sometimes learn more from the sight of evil than from an example of good; and it is well to accustom ourselves to profit by the evil which is so common, while that which is good is so rare.

We show anyone that he is mistaken - When we would show any one that he is mistaken, our best course is to observe on what side he considers the subject, - for his view of it is generally right on this side, - and admit to him that he is right so far. He will be satisfied with this acknowledgment, that he was not wrong in his judgment, but only inadvertent in not looking at the whole case.

The queen of error - That queen of error, whom we call fancy and opinion, is the more deceitful because she does not always deceive. She would be the infallible rule of truth if she were the infallible rule of falsehood; but being only most frequently in error, she gives no evidence of her real quality, for she marks with the same character both that which is true and that which is false.

Accused of folly - The highest order of mind is accused of folly, as well as the lowest. Nothing is thoroughly approved but mediocrity. The majority has established this, and it fixes its fangs on whatever gets beyond it either way.

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